Together
by DarkArrow225
Summary: A horse and a NYPD detective. What could they possibly have in common? Mac finds out after an accident puts him off-duty for three months and he meets the gentle, jet-black horse which he names "Avalanche". Can Avalanche help him get back on top of things?


**A/N's: This kind of goes off of my previous story that was up for not too long, "On The Darkest Of Nights", but it really has nothing to do with anything I had planned for that story. So, believe it or not, here is a story that doesn't deal too much with trouble, but more so getting over trouble. Oh, and the little case that Mac's off-duty for in this one, a work of my imagination it is.**

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"_It is not enough for a man to know how to ride, he must know how to fall."_- Mexican Proverb

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Three months off-duty. That's what they'd assigned him. He sighed, his mind still not letting him forget the nightmare that had put him where he was.

It had been a normal day and then everything changed in the afternoon hours. The injuries he'd sustained were not as severe as everyone seemed to think, but the shock, for the lack of a better word, had definitely been what had got to Mac. He didn't like that fact, but it was something that he'd have to come to terms with if Stella was ever going to get off his ass about it.

Today was different than the other month he'd spent off-duty. Today he'd received a phone call from a friend that he hadn't seen in a while. This friend had invited Mac out to his farm to come meet a new arrival. Mac wasn't extremely excited about going, but he did know he needed the fresh air, so he'd allowed his friend to talk him in to going.

After about two hours driving in his truck out to the farm, he finally arrived, pulling the black Chevy up to park at the end of the gravel driveway near the barn.

He slipped out of the truck and couldn't help but smile when he saw his friend, Kent, come walking towards him preceded by his two daughters. "Hey Mac," Kent greeted when he had come within earshot of Mac, who was now being greeted by Kent's very excited daughters.

Mac looked up, smiling. "Long time no see," he agreed.

Kent flashed a smile. "Yeah, tell me about it. How you been holding up since the accident?" he asked.

Mac shrugged. "Miss the job," he replied honestly.

Kent narrowed his eyes. He hadn't seen his friend in a while, but he knew that Mac had often used his job to keep his mind occupied. Don't get him wrong, he knew Mac was great at what he did for a living, but he just knew something else was also bugging the senior detective other than being kept off the job.

"You alright, Mac?" Kent asked.

Mac sighed and looked at Kent. He couldn't lie to him, because Kent could see right through Mac's lies just like anyone on his team could, most of the times at least. "I just really need something to take my mind off things." He now had one of Kent's daughters on each hand, both of them asking him questions even as the two adults spoke, which made both Mac and Kent smirk.

"Well girls, do you want to show old Mac what we got him?" Kent asked his daughters.

Mac looked up at Kent. "Kent…you really didn't have too…"

"Oh, shut up, it'll do you a world of good," Kent said, waving a hand at Mac as he turned and, with his two daughters of course, led Mac in to the barn.

When Kent stopped and turned to face Mac, he could clearly see Mac was smiling. "Told you so."

"Kent…really? I told you you didn't have to!" Mac said, reaching out a hand and stroking the nose of the horse that stood in front of him.

Kent's daughters giggled before they fled the barn, leaving the two adults to speak over matters alone.

"Mac, I know I didn't have too, but this horse comes from a rough past as well and I know that if you spend some time out here, it'll do you the world of good," Kent told him.

Mac sighed and looked at Kent, still rubbing the horse, who was starting to look like he was half asleep and really enjoying the attention. He thought over the matter for a moment, knowing what Kent said was true. "Alright," he finally said, "I'll accept."

Kent smiled a bit, "Then I'll leave you two alone so you can figure out each other," he said. "C'mon, we'll put him in the paddock."

Mac smirked and undid the clips of the cross-ties that had kept the horse standing in place and kept a hand on the horse's halter as he led it out after Kent to the small pasture behind the barn.

Kent got the gate and then let Mac lead the horse inside before he closed and latched the gate behind the two of them before leaving the two of them be.

Mac let go of the horse's halter, rubbing its neck now instead. The jet black horse stood quietly beside him, leaning in towards him just slightly as Mac kept rubbing him. Mac smiled a little. "Kent, Kent, Kent…what did you get me in to now?" he murmured.

After a few moments, Mac hunted down a spot to sit at the foot of the tree in the pasture, the black horse tagging along with him. As Mac sat watching the horse in front of him, big, brown, innocent eyes looked back at him as the horse had its head hanging low, nosing around Mac's hands to see if he had any treats.

Mac smiled and rubbed the horse's face again and the horse stopped nosing around, seeming content now that he had someone to hang around with.

The two of them might've staid under that tree for several hours, but neither really seemed to notice the passage of such time. Kent finally came to the fence, watching as the horse stood by Mac's side, Mac's gaze traveling over the beautiful landscape around the farm.

"You want to ride him tomorrow?" Kent asked, slipping through the split-rail fence to go over and join Mac.

Mac jumped, not even hearing Kent come to the fence. He looked up at Kent and shrugged. "Why not? I can only assume you're going to get me to do it anyways," he replied, smiling a little.

Kent smirked and shrugged a little. "Yeah, you're right. I'd make you ride him even if you said no."

Mac's smile widened a little. "Does he have a name?" he asked, nodding to the horse, who raised his head slightly and pricked his ears as Mac indicated him.

Kent smiled. "We were leaving that up to you," he said.

Mac blinked in surprise, but didn't reply, instead contemplating over what to call the horse that stood loyally at his side. Mac looked over the somewhat short horse again with a long black mane and tail with gentle brown eyes and no markings whatsoever. The horse was really jet-black. He smiled as a thought crossed his mind.

Kent smirked at the somewhat silly looking expression his friend was wearing. "What's on your mind?" he asked.

Mac smirked and looked up at him, still sitting at the foot of the big tree. "What if we called him Avalanche?" he asked.

Kent laughed. "Like your truck?" he asked, finding the name pretty funny since that's also what model of truck his friend drove.

Mac smiled. "Exactly. I want to call him Avalanche."

Kent smirked at the almost childish looking expression on his friend's face. He seemed a bit shy and it wasn't like him, but the expression just made him smirk. "Alright then. Avalanche it is."


End file.
